Testing and Investigation Services

Until an individual has been personally victimized, most people are unaware that housing discrimination is a social injustice. Preventing housing discrimination and promoting strong, economically stable communities requires educating the general public to recognize and respond to discrimination when it occurs.

Fair Housing Testing

The Housing Equality Center developed one of the first “testing” programs in the country to document illegal housing discrimination. Testing is a controlled process used to determine whether or not a person looking for housing is being discriminated against because of their race, color, familial status, disability, national origin, religion, sex or other protected class under federal, state and local fair housing laws. For example, testing is used to determine if a landlord is telling African Americans that no apartments are available while telling Caucasians that apartments are available.

How Testing Works

The Housing Equality Center trains “testers” to pose as a person seeking housing or a housing-related service. For example, to test for race discrimination, a black tester would be sent to a site, followed by a white tester, with a third tester following up if necessary. The Housing Equality Center then compares reports documenting how the testers were treated. This investigative tool can help reveal whether illegal housing discrimination is occurring.